Corbels, Brackets & Ornament · Victorian (Queen Anne, Eastlake)
Adler & Sullivan Cast-Iron Newel Post from the Morris Selz House (1883)
A flat cast-iron newel ornament from the 1883 Morris Selz House in Chicago, designed by Adler & Sullivan with a tall spiral finial and stylized leaf scrolls.
Design characteristics
This newel is essentially a flat silhouette with a spiral at the top and leafy scrolls at its base, an early example of the ornamental language Sullivan would refine over his career. Because it is a profile rather than a full sculpture, it is a useful reference for modern makers: the same outline can be cut from thick hardwood or plate steel as a stair newel, a balustrade end, or a decorative bracket. The house was demolished in 1967, and the piece survives in the Art Institute of Chicago.
Classification
- Category
- Corbels, Brackets & Ornament
- Material
- Cast iron
- Motifs
- Sullivanesque ornament
- Date
- 1883 (demolished 1967)
- Maker or designer
- Adler and Sullivan (American, 1883-1896) Louis Sullivan (American, 1856–1924) Dankmar Adler (American, born Germany, 1844–1900)
- Recorded medium
- Cast iron
- Dimensions
- 55.9 × 124.5 × 7.7 cm (22 × 49 × 3 in.)
- Evidence
- Documented historical object
- Source
- Art Institute of Chicago
Architectural context
Carved mantels, layered trim and dark, decorative hardwoods. Britain and the United States · c. 1837–1901.
